Working plate

[rocketsled]

So I bought a motorcycle. Thought I'd futz with the techniques for making stuff for it. I turned a set of handlebar risers for a friends bobber and they turned out rather nice.

Looking at the sissybar, it's roughly 1/4" steel, cut, bent, and chromed.

How would a home shop fella duplicate it? Would the cheap, clamp to your workbench, Harbor Freight metal brake be able to bent 1/4" steel? I'd imagine duplicating a symmetric shape might take a little practice.

I'll bet I con convince the minimill to plunge cut and form cut-outs.

I figure I'd farm out the chroming, how perfect does the surface of the metal have to be to take a good chrome?

What are your experiences?

[Ian B]

When you say "1/4" steel", do you mean solid round bar, solid square, 1/4" wall thickness tubing, 1/4" plate...?

Ian

[Bmyers]

[QUOTE=rocketsled]
I figure I'd farm out the chroming, how perfect does the surface of the metal have to be to take a good chrome?

QUOTE]

how perfect do you want the chrome ? every flaw in the base metal is magnified in the chrome

[justanengineer]

Watch a few of the custom bike shows on TV and you will learn how crude you can be. Many sissybars back in the day were formed using not much more than a hammer, vise, and torch for heat to assist in the bending.

[rocketsled]

When you say "1/4" steel", do you mean solid round bar, solid square, 1/4" wall thickness tubing, 1/4" plate...?

Ian

1/4" plate (hence the thread title)....and it's actually not to make a sissybar, I've got some people interested in altering the shifter for biger and smaller feet, and it's made from similar gauge metal.

every flaw in the base metal is magnified in the chrome

Gotcha...good to know.

[fciron]

Moving the shifter is a heat-and-beat job in the vise or possibly a bender of some sort, not a brake. Lots of home-made benders floating around, that's what you've got a lathe for Gentle curves can be formed with a three-point bending fixture in a press.

I've seen sissy bars made of everything from paper thin tubing up to 3/4" square solid bar. Better descriptions or pictures will get you better advice.

[darryl]

Usually when you talk about a metal brake, it's not going to be something able to bend 1/4 inch thick material- not even close. A metal bender, possibly, a press- probably easily. A brake is for sheet material, and it will take a pretty good sized one to handle even 1/8 thick material of any real length. Something like that would easily bend 1/4 inch material of normal widths, say 2 or even 3 inch wide bar, but the adjustments would not be in the right range. It's not the machine for that job.